Work to demolish an "eyesore" 1960s shopping centre was starting today.

A ceremony has been organised to allow the public to celebrate the demolition of the much-derided Tricorn Centre in Portsmouth.

The winner of a radio competition will have the privilege of starting the bulldozers, while Portsmouth City Council has also arranged to have the work accompanied by a rendition of Tchaikovsky's 1812 overture.

The music was chosen because the Tricorn was described in the 1960s as "an orchestration in reinforced concrete that is the equivalent of the 1812 Overture".